22. Januar 2025 / Forschung

Call for papers: "The nameless war of Cameroon (1956-1971): state of knowledge and research perspectives"

The Centro de Estudos Africanos da Universidade do Porto and The University Research Group on Mutations in Africa (GRUMAC), Porto (Portugal), 25-26 September 2025

Despite a few publications, theses and dissertations of students, the gray areas and the unspoken remain enormous regarding the events that happened in Cameroon from 1957 to 1971, which remain unnamed. The archives on this period are scattered in several sites in Cameroon and in Europe, mainly in France. The renewed interest raised by this issue as well as by the controlled opening of archives and the written testimonies of actors from all sides are opportunities to be seized to revisit this history, raise and address a certain number of questions.

This conference intends to delve into the twists and turns of the war to bring out and highlight these marginalized or neglected aspects. It also intends to be the laboratory of scientific analyses where contributions and debates will allow the participants to agree on the naming of these events, to lift the amnesia and to give voice to the actors who, until now, have been considered second-class and unimportant people. The stories and life stories will therefore, alongside many other aspects, constitute one of the central sections of this conference.

This conference on the "unnamed or misnamed war in Cameroon" is aimed at teachers, researchers, organizations, doctoral students and practitioners and wishes to address the following thematic areas:

• The life stories of nationalist fighters and activists;
• The little-known areas of resistance: the Eastern, Southern and Central fronts;
• Forms of resistance and counter-resistance;
• The maquis in urban centers and urban guerrilla warfare;
• The internationalization of resistance;
• The contribution of women and children;
• The economy of war;
• Life stories and testimonies;
• The legacy of the maquis in Cameroon;
• The Cameroon war seen by other countries (colonial and anti-colonial);
• The challenges of preserving the memory of the nationalist movement in Cameroon;
• The effects of the war on local customs and traditions (ritual ceremonies, widowhood, preservation of relics, funerals, obsequies, etc.);
• Ideas, reasons and object of political propaganda of Cameroon nationalists;
• Publications of witnesses (local population and foreign witnesses);
• War photographs; collection and conservation techniques; methods of use;
• The war and relations between France and Cameroon;
• The circulation of arms during the Cameroon war.

Submission deadline: 10 April 2025